Monday, March 26, 2007

Coming Back, but Slowly - Part One

Hi, friends! I've been sending dozens of emails to those brick walls at Blogger, trying to get them to recover my poor deleted blog. It's weird that, when I just now typed the title to this post, a previous post-title came up as a choice. So it's there, somewhere.

However, with more than 2 weeks having passed since I unwittingly zapped my blog, I've decided to try going forward with a 'new' blog. I immediately remembered exactly why I've been dragging my feet: setting all this up is a major PITA!!! So the necessary accessories and the frills will be coming to this site slowly as I have the determination to wade through the process.

You will have noticed that we have some changes:

a new URL (http://cbmsyarns.blogspot.com),

a slightly different blog title, CatBookMom's Yarns Too (in hopes of recovering the 'old' blog) and

a new photo. Since I go by 'CatBookMom', I thought I'd show the Cat and the Books. I am a 'mom' only in the sense that I care and cater for both. If you look carefully at the picture, you will see some of my favorite mystery writers being represented, lol.

I still miss our little Shadow cat so dreadfully. She's been gone 2 months today, and I only wish I'd saved at least that post from my old blog. But I can remember most of it, and I have 15 years of memories to cherish. Shadow died of acute pancreatitis and its effects on her other organs; she was not a victim of this dreadful pet-food poisoning. Here she is lounging in one of our chairs, which she always custom-covered in extra fur and leftover kitty litter.I have lots of yarny news, many new nearly-FOs, and just plain chat, so I'm going to break this 'first' post into two, since there are lots of pictures.

Today I received my first order of hand-dyed yarn from a new source. See Jayne Knits has just opened for business in Vancouver, BC, and I am privileged to have some of the very first yarns she's created. The yarns are all soft as can be, with no nasty vinegar or dye odors. Here's my booty:

First, we have Coral Glow, a 100% merino sock yarn, one of the very first SJK skeins ever. This is a happy-making color, and it will make some lovely socks, when I find the right pattern for it. The flash makes this look a bit garish, but it's the closest I dould get.

Then there's Hydrangea, which is IMO a most perfectly named yarn. This is 100% superwash DK merino, and the shades of blue-pinks and pinky-lavenders and all shades in between include my complete range of favorite pastels.

And not least, this is Forest Camo sock yarn, 80% wool, 20% nylon. DH is going to love this - again, the camera cannot capture the colors. There are greens from cedar to balsam to olive to new leaves...., and the browns and tans are just as wide-ranging.

You HAVE to check out this new dyer! Jayne has been known among the Elann knitters for her unerring sense of color and color mixtures, and she has brought all of that talent to the yarns she is creating. She has found sources of high-quality yarns in a wide variety of weights and fibers, and she has already begun to compile a number of repeatable colorways. Right now there are some copper and midnight-blue yarns showing that I really covet. The Copper mohair could convert me from a 'waters' color fan to an 'earth' colors fan. All of us who have known her for a while are warning her against burn-out, a la Sweet Georgia, so the output won't be large, but it will be high-quality and in stunning colors.

Welcome back!! I see we have some favorite authors in common--we'll have to talk books while we knit! I'm off to link your new blog to mine now, and then I'll check out all your new and finished goodies!

Glad to see you back! I REALLY like the last two colours!!There is a site www.blurb.com I think, and you can have all your blog posts made into a book. If you ever find your old blog...I've been thinking I should do it, I've been a little lax on the babybook upkeep this time.